What’s on each sheet
These are classic Japanese tracing worksheets (なぞり書き, nazorigaki) — the same format used in Japanese elementary schools. Every practice row walks you through three steps: look at a dark example character, trace the light-gray copies, then write it yourself in the remaining blank squares. The squares carry the dotted cross guides (十字リーダー) found in Japanese school notebooks, which make it far easier to place radicals and keep characters balanced. Each page also has a title and a Name line, so teachers can hand the sheets out as homework.
Characters are rendered in Klee One, an open-source font close to the textbook style (教科書体) used to teach handwriting in Japan. Keep in mind that a font shows the target shape only — confirm stroke order and stroke direction with your textbook or a stroke-order dictionary.
Three ways to build a sheet
- Your own words — type any Japanese words (kanji, hiragana, katakana), one per line. Practice them one character at a time, or keep whole words together to drill vocabulary the way it is actually written.
- JLPT kanji — pick a level and tap the kanji you are studying this week. The built-in lists cover 80 kanji for N5 and 167 for N4, with English meanings shown on hover. Select all to print a complete workbook for the level.
- Kana charts — printable hiragana practice sheets and katakana practice sheets, row by row (あいうえお, かきくけこ, …). Select all ten rows for the full chart of 46 characters.
Square sizes
| Size | Squares per row | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Large | 6 (about 30 mm) | First-time learners, young kids, complex kanji |
| Medium | 8 (about 22 mm) | Everyday kana and kanji practice |
| Small | 10 (about 18 mm) | Review drills, fitting more repetitions per page |
Tips for Japanese handwriting practice
- Stroke order matters. Correct order produces the right shape almost automatically and makes fast, connected handwriting possible later. Look the character up in a stroke-order reference before tracing it, then say the strokes as you write.
- Trace less, write more. The tracing squares are training wheels — the blank squares at the end of each row are where the learning happens. If your freehand version drifts, go back and trace once more.
- Use the cross guides. Before writing, notice which quadrants the example occupies: where the left radical ends, how far the final stroke sweeps. Copy the proportions, not just the strokes.
- Short sessions, every day. One or two pages a day beats a pile of sheets once a week. A darker pencil (B or 2B) makes your strokes easy to see over the light tracing guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I print these practice sheets or save them as a PDF?
Yes — that is the whole point of this page. Click “Print / Save as PDF” and either print directly or change the destination in the print dialog to “Save as PDF” to download a free kanji or hiragana practice sheet PDF. There is no account, watermark, or download limit. The sheets are designed for A4 paper; if your printer uses US Letter, keep the paper setting on Letter and choose “Fit to page” (or “Scale to fit”) in the print dialog.
Are the JLPT N5 and N4 kanji lists official?
No. The JLPT has not published official kanji lists since the 2010 test revision, so every “JLPT kanji list” you find online — including this one — is unofficial. The lists built into this tool (80 kanji for N5, 167 kanji for N4) follow the study lists most textbooks and JLPT prep sites use, ordered roughly by how frequently the kanji appear. They are a solid, widely used approximation of what you will actually meet on the test.
Is the font suitable for learning correct handwriting?
The sheets use Klee One, an open-source font whose letterforms are close to the textbook style (kyokasho-tai) taught in Japanese schools — much better for tracing than the gothic or mincho fonts used on screens. One caveat: a font can only show you the finished shape. It cannot show stroke order, stroke direction, or where to stop and where to sweep, so check those details with a textbook or a stroke-order dictionary as you practice.
What do the squares with the dotted cross mean?
That is the standard grid used in Japanese school notebooks: each character gets one square, and the dotted cross (juji leader) divides it into four quadrants. The guides help you judge proportions — where a radical should sit, how far a stroke should extend — which is the hardest part of writing kanji and kana with a balanced shape. Each practice row gives you a dark example to look at, a few light-gray characters to trace, and blank squares to write on your own.
Is my word list uploaded to a server?
No. The sheets are generated entirely in your browser with JavaScript — nothing you type is ever sent anywhere. Your words, kanji selection and settings are auto-saved to your browser’s local storage so they are restored the next time you open the page, and they never leave your device.
Related tools
- Genkouyoushi Maker — printable Japanese manuscript paper, for composition practice after your characters are solid.
- Furigana Generator — add reading hints to any Japanese text, handy for building your practice word list.
- Kanji & Kana to Romaji — convert Japanese text to romaji when you need pronunciation at a glance.
- なぞり書きプリントメーカー（日本語版） — the Japanese version of this tool.